The power of Africa's critical minerals

Endowed with a third of the world's supply of them, the continent must push for actions that have the most benefits for its people

- Nkateko Chauke & Francis Agbere

At the turn of 2025, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the African Union and the continent’s governments delivered a bold new initiative titled Mission 300.

It aims to reduce Africa’s energy poverty by halving the number of Africans without access to electricity from 600 million to 300 million by 2030.

The chances of realising this goal, especially within this short period, depends on the extent to which the continent takes charge and overcomes external competing interests.

Over time, Africa’s pursuit of climate justice, including a just energy transition, has been hampered by self-interest and the strong positions held by rich countries and billionaires — positions that have prevailed over reason and the common good.

For example, last year’s 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) finally agreed on a paltry $300 billion of climate finance annually by 2035 against the $1.3 trillion per year by 2030 that Majority World countries had pushed for. This was after two weeks of intense negotiations.

Africa has been denied not only access to climate funds but also the technology needed for a green transition, as rich countries delay their own transition, resulting in a lack of structured mechanisms for technological transfer to Majority World countries.

Plans by big oil companies from rich countries, such as ExxonMobil, BP and Total Energies, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 indicate that they are not treating the need to bring emissions under control with the urgency it deserves.